


Flavor Text

by gh0stlychances



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Narrator Chara, Suicide mention, Undertale Spoilers, flavor text chara, will add characters as they come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 06:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5447348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0stlychances/pseuds/gh0stlychances
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the darkness, Chara tries to find themself a new vessel and learns how to open a window for them to see the world as long as a human is within the barrier. This window is named FLAVOR TEXT.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. PATIENCE

In the darkness they could feel nothing. Well, nothing physical. They could feel plenty of emotions and thoughts. Anger, frustration, rage, shame. Those were clear and evident. They failed. No, Asriel failed them. And now, their death was for nothing. Their soul was trapped in the Underground thanks to the barrier and now they can’t pass on like their real parents promised on the surface. So instead, their soul shattered. And through that, their existence was stuck in the darkness, trying to figure out what to do now. Asriel’s essence got to continue in a physical vessel. But their essence was trapped in darkness.

Only once in awhile would the darkness shift ever so slightly so they could see a skeletal figure passing through the timeline. If they were determined enough, they’d occasionally get the skeletal figure to pause in their frantic scrambling to demand to have a conversation. They had to do something to make time pass.

“Who are you?” they’d try to ask the figure the first time, “Are you dead, too? Why is your soul not shattered like the other monsters?”

The skeletal figure stared at them with empty sockets before two bony hands would move in a fidgety manner. Sign language. They picked it up when they were younger since their parent used sign language as well.

_“I am W. D. Gaster. I made a mistake and failed. I did not die. I am scrambled through multiple timelines,”_ the figure signed in response, seeming to want a break from the eternal darkness, as well. W. D. Gaster was a familiar name. It was the name of a man who worked for King Asgore. They remembered hearing briefly of the monster but nothing more than him creating the core. What was this scientist doing messing with the timelines? _“You are Chara, the fallen human. You have failed, as well, I see. Welcome to the darkness in time and space,”_ the skeletal figure continued to sign off.

Chara cringed at the mention of their own name and gave the figure an angered noise. “I did not fail. Asriel failed. I am no failure. I’ll find a way out of this darkness, I can promise you that much,” they insisted, snarling at the former scientist.

_“Of course. But the only way to do that is to steal a vessel. You wish to be a flower like Asriel then? There are plenty of flowers with your blood on them,”_ the scientist’s permanent smile seemed to stretch a little wider, almost mocking their own mocking smiles that they used to give Asriel.

“Shut up. I’m not going to be some weak flower that some idiot monster can tear up!” they growled into the darkness.

“ _Well, you can not take a monster vessel. A vessel must be either nor human or monster or of your own race. You have no soul now but your race is still in your essence. Are you counting on a human falling down here to take their soul and use it for yourself?”_ the skeleton signed off.

“Then why haven’t you taken a vessel for yourself? You’re a monster and there are clearly plenty to go around, right?” they huffed, forcing themself to calm down. They couldn’t get angry and throw a childish tantrum. They had to take the upper hand and get information.

_“I do not need to. The only soul compatible enough for me to take on is one that I do not wish to harm. But I did find a way to see the world still, myself. Through souls that are not compatible, I am able to see the timelines through what is spoken,_ ” the figure explained briefly.

“I don’t follow. What do you mean by that? You can see the timeline through what they say? And what do you mean by a compatible soul? Does the vessel have to be compatible?” they frowned a bit, realizing that their odds of finding a vessel was constantly slimming in possibility now.

“ _Yes. You are human, yes? Let me explain it like a game, ok? This world can be like a game that humans play on the surface. You know how in a game, you can see the character’s dialogue in text? If I let myself see their dialogue like text, I can find an opening in the beginning of what they all say. Like the formality of quotation marks, I can open a window for myself in the shape of an asterisk and see the world through that,”_ the monster explained, _“Yes. For us in the darkness, we must find a soul that is compatible. Meaning I must find a monster who is like myself in soul. I must find someone who has similar magic to my own so that I do not tear the vessel apart and harm the vessel if I ever dream of taking the vessel completely for myself. I imagine for humans, the equivalent would be finding someone with as much DETERMINATION as you had. Someone with the same color soul as you.”_

After that, the skeleton had to leave. They spent their time in the darkness trying to plan, in the meantime. They tried to picture the world like a video game as the monster said. They tried to find their opening to see the world. As they were attempting to learn how to survive in the darkness, they felt a tug and saw an opening to the light again. Through the darkness, they saw a light blue light shine vibrantly.

Falling into the barrier was a small child with a light blue soul. They had fallen face first into the underground. They felt rage again as they saw that the child didn’t have the right soul color. It wasn’t the right determination. This child was filled with PATIENCE. But, they were tired of darkness so they forced themself to find a window in the timeline to still aid the child. Maybe they could help the child find their DETERMINATION.

When the child finally stood with a shaky stance, they could finally see what this child looked like. Messy blonde hair pulled together by a red ribbon. Their sweater was too big for them with light blue and pink stripes. Their blue eyes were searching frantically for where they were and what to do. It took them a moment to find the small toy knife they brought with them and Chara could just feel the excitement pass through their nonexistent body. Knives were always useful and this child knew how to wield a toy knife. Perhaps then they could influence the child to use a real knife.

They found a window finally to help them in the form of description. But they cursed themself as they realized that no one spoke description. They decided to force that window open further while the child was shambling deeper into the cave of the Ruins. Finally they found a way to call out to the child to help them, feeling proud of their DETERMINATION to find a way. They named this window FLAVOR TEXT proudly.

They turned their attention back to the child again and felt their rage peak again when they saw a golden flower poke up from the grass in front of the child. That’s not how most flowers act. They don’t just pop up from the ground in front of you. This was different. This was Asriel.

*”Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the Flower!” the flower began. Who was Asriel kidding? They could see the asterisk that the scientist had spoke of before, though. “Flowey” began to explain to the child the functions of a fight, trying to fool the child to believe that his bullets were “Friendliness Pellets”. Since when was Asriel so cruel and not compassionate? No matter, perhaps this is what happens when monsters die and are forced to come back as a flower.

The child’s light blue soul stayed patiently in place, expecting to find love from Flowey through the Friendliness Pellets, and found the deep pain of betrayal. Chara found that betrayed feeling was a frequent thing from Asriel. What a brat. The child gave out a pained noise and tried to get their soul back till Flowey surrounded the child with bullets while laughing at them. He was going to kill their potential vessel and Chara felt a rage boil in them again. How could he do this to them again? Chara wanted to push themself out of the darkness and out of the window and grab Flowey, themself, and rip each and every little petal off his dumb smiling face.

Thankfully before their rage got out of hand, a familiar blast of fire magic came out and that familiar face of Toriel came from the shadows of the cavern. As she spoke, Chara could feel a pain as they thought of Toriel. She tried to be Chara’s new mother as they never had a real mother in their life before. But now Asriel and Chara were dead and she was without Asgore. Why did she leave him? Why was she not at the castle? It was confusing for Chara.

Toriel led the child into the Ruins and showed the child how puzzles work. It was easy for Chara to describe to the child what they were seeing, feeling this was an easy way to pass time. The only hard part was realizing this child had no DETERMINATION to SAVE. They remembered being in the Ruins with Asriel with plenty of SAVE points. Damn this child. Chara finally had a grip on something other than darkness and now the couldn’t even get the child to have DETERMINATION.

What made things worse was how easily Toriel had made up this fiction of this small child being her own to adopt. Toriel constantly referred to the child as, “my child” or “small one”. It made Chara want to laugh in mockery. Was Toriel honestly believing that she could just take in another child and love them the same way she loved Asriel and Chara? They knew that Toriel was clearly lonely and heartbroken. Chara felt no sympathy for her. Toriel was never their real mother and she already was trying to replace Asriel. Maybe this was why “Flowey” had no compassion to the child.

Once Toriel left the child alone in a room to wait, they knew they had a larger window to speak through. No interruptions. Just Chara and this child. They had to get this child to have DETERMINATION. Otherwise, this child would die too fast and not be able to come back. They had to get a vessel as soon as they could so that they could leave the darkness. The child had disobeyed Toriel and went venturing into another room. Perhaps if the child didn’t have DETERMINATION, then maybe they could gain the LOVE Chara once had with that Toy Knife.

The child had gotten into only a few fights, killing the small Froggits they came across and gaining up to almost LV 2. But it wasn’t enough. They weren’t out seeking for LOVE. they were just trying to survive. Chara was able to at least make some fun out of this child. They couldn’t help it, the child was clearly younger than they were and easy to amuse. The child reminded them of Asriel almost in their curiosity. They were a far more patient audience, too, as they took in time to let the jokes Chara made settle in their young mind.

*Loox, Family name: Eyewalker

The child seemed to enjoy that one, easily catching the reference. Chara idly wondered if they ever made any more of those old sci-fi movies up on the surface.

It was all fun and games to the child till they fell into one of the puzzles. Chara glanced at a tuft of green in the ground. It must’ve been a Vegetoid considering they were in the Ruins. The child was frightened by the monster, though, and was frozen in fear in battle. Chara tried to grab their attention with the flavor text but found it useless. The child was hit a few times in their frozen fear and it was too late for them to regain their strength and swipe the toy knife at the vegetoid.

Chara stared at the blood that seeped out of the child and watched the monster carefully take the soul out of the ruins. Chara was disgusted, honestly. How could this child have no determination to want to keep living? But perhaps this child didn’t climb that mountain for a pleasant reason or for a specific reason. Maybe this young child just didn’t wish to return to the surface. It was a sad thought that Chara pushed away to try to call out to the child still. It was too late, though, as they couldn’t pull up a SAVE file to try again with. The child was dead and gone.

They were confused, honestly, that a monster would try to purposefully kill a human child. But perhaps… their plan didn’t totally fail then. Perhaps this meant that monsters have learned to hate humans like they did. Perhaps the monsters learned that humans have killed the royal children and King Asgore finally called the bounty to collect a soul. He’d need at least one to absorb and go through to collect 6 more on the surface.

Their window closed, though, before they could see what Asgore was planning to do with the soul. They expected the darkness to end soon for them to pass on finally. Once the barrier breaks, they were free, they thought. But the darkness never ended. They couldn’t tell how much longer they sat in darkness, waiting with PATIENCE.

W. D. Gaster came by once or twice in the darkness for idle chatter, both seeking a way to break up the darkness. They were fine with that till they realized Gaster could see the outside world still and has yet to fill them in on what they were missing. They were able to finally force it out of the scientist one time and felt proud of their DETERMINATION.

_“King Asgore declared war after the humans killed the Prince and you. He demanded that monsters collect 7 souls with him to shatter the barrier. The Queen was in distraught that he’d declare such a thing and ran away to the Ruins to live there. It’s because of her that your grave was moved, as well._ ”

“Wait. You’re telling me that King Asgore didn’t absorb the light blue soul? But he could’ve absorbed it and gone through! He just needed that first soul! That’s what Asriel and I did!” they felt the frustrations Toriel felt and sighed, “He’s a fool…”

_“Seems to be he does not have the bravery to do so. Instead, they are using the PATIENCE the light blue soul had to make new magic out of it,”_ Gaster explained with a small smile.


	2. Bravery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BRAVERY can push anyone to do reckless things

How long has this darkness existed, they wondered as they waited with PATIENCE. It felt like years. Gaster occasionally told them only a month had passed but it didn’t stop them from feeling like it was too long. They were forced to wait. They hated this more than anything and spent this time thinking of what to do once they finally had a vessel to steal. They’d find a way to break the barrier again so they could pass on. They knew they could do this by gathering enough strength with LOVE to just break the barrier, themself, or kill Asgore or Toriel to take their boss monster soul. Normal monsters shatter and turn to dust too fast to collect any souls from them.

Finally in the darkness, they saw an orange glow as a new human fell through the barrier a year after the last human. They were older than the last child and had a scowl on their face the moment they stood. They were tall and probably a year older than Chara, pushing them from a child to a teen. Chara didn’t care, though, as this teen had an orange soul. Orange was close to red, they figured, and saw the potential of DETERMINATION.

Through BRAVERY, the teen moved in the shadows of the cavern till they ran into Flowey. Chara wanted to rip that flower out of the ground and demand to know what Flowey was doing still. But, they couldn’t, and had to sit and listen to Flowey try to trick this human, too. How rude. At least this human moved around too much to actually get hit right away. Chara wanted to laugh at the flower’s frustration.

*”Hey buddy, you, uh, missed them… lets try again!”

And again Flowey tried, shooting the bullets at the orange heart. Chara was convinced that the teen would piss Flowey off again till they saw the human throw their soul right at the pellets, thinking they’d gain love. And again, Flowey laughed at the human in pain till Toriel saved the human again. Chara hated this deja vu. She showed them to the next room and Chara was pleased to see the SAVE point there. Orange was close to Red, after all.  
  
The teen was drawn to the SAVE point and Chara was pleased. They could feel how the human felt now, as it was like a connection to the human directly. Unfortunately, the human wasn’t filled with DETERMINATION but rather with BRAVERY. This human… they had DETERMINATION to be here but it was BRAVERY that fueled them. Humans are too complicated.

*(The shadows of the ruins looms above, filling you with bravery)

They felt disappointed. They needed DETERMINATION, not BRAVERY. But then again, what were they so determined to do? Chara used the next SAVE point to try to find out. It was the only time that they ever actually felt the direct link to the human.

*(Searching through the leaves fills you with determination)

It was conflicting, Chara felt, that the human was determined and brave. But no matter, it was all they needed to see what they were trying to do here. This human, with their BRAVERY and reckless fighting, was DETERMINED to find their little sibling. Chara felt bitter. This human wasn’t here to break a barrier or return to the surface. Or at least, not alone. They were DETERMINED to find the little human with the light blue soul. No one told them that that human was dead yet? Chara didn’t have the BRAVERY to do so yet. They were thankful that this human was too reckless to stick around for puzzles. This human didn’t even see the puzzle that the first child had died at nor did they explore the extra rooms where Chara could see the toy knife.

But they did seem to be fueled with enough BRAVERY to fight monsters. They raised themself up to LV 2 by the time they were back at Toriel’s home. This teen didn’t bother staying the night, though. As soon as Toriel had shown them the door to their new room and left to go handle something that was burning, the child had snuck away. Chara could tell that this human did not trust Toriel as a mother, they had their own mother at home they had to get to.  
  
The human had left the Ruins without even saying goodbye to Toriel. How rude of them. Chara watched the human and noticed a SAVE point there, directing them to it. It was an odd SAVE point. It was like the first one, not for DETERMINATION but for BRAVERY. It was then that they could see why it was different.

*(The the hopes of finding your sibling in the snowy forest fills you with bravery)

The human marched on, ready for anything, it seemed. It was then that the human felt like they were being followed. After hearing a branch snap in the distance, the human stopped and turned, ready to face any challenge with a brave smirk of their own. Chara was impressed.  
  
From the shadows stepped out a small skeleton, one that Chara felt looked familiar. Their sockets were pitch black till the lights in their eyes shone and Chara felt a peak of annoyance when they saw it was light blue.

*”You’re human, right? Well, I see you’ve got some dust on you already, huh? LV 2? Man, you’ve been busy, huh?” the skeleton spoke, the permanent smile straining a bit.  
  
The human was ready to respond before they were pulled quickly into battle. The skeleton attacked quickly, bombarding the human with a bone attack. The human’s orange soul shined brightly as it moved around as fast it could to dodge the bones. When the human finally got a chance to check the skeleton, Chara made a fast evaluation.

*ATCK 1, DEF 1 The easiest enemy

They felt unimpressed. Such a dramatic entrance for a monster so weak. Yet, this monster so weak was able to bombard the human. That was confusing to say the least. The human moved quickly to attack the small monster, aiming with a diligent punch with their tough glove. The hit should’ve killed the monster but he dodged too fast.  
  
*”You know kiddo, I forgot to introduce myself. Man, I’m such a bonehead!” the skeleton looked up at the human with that same stupid smile. Chara wanted to punch that smile right off him for making that pun alone. Sure, it was funny, but this guy was trying to kill their potential vessel.

*”I’m Sans, Sans the skeleton,” the skeleton finally finished introducing himself before bombarding the human again. This time it was a parade of light blue bones, harming the human as their soul was constantly moving to try to dodge the attacks. Chara couldn’t believe it. That was the same light blue as the light blue soul. Gaster did mention that they were using light blue magic now thanks to the monsters capturing the soul. But to see it used by such a small weak skeleton, Chara just felt frustrated. They had to tell the teen now.

*That magic is familiar to you.

  
It was all Chara could describe it as. There were rules to this window, after all.   
The human tried to attack again with their 1 HP and missed again. Sans seemed to shrug and attack them again, sending normal bones this time. Unfortunetly, the human died and Chara felt rage boil over. They paced angrily while the human was trying to reload. They only stopped when they felt a bony hand on their nonexistent shoulder. They looked back into the darkness, away from the window, to look up at Gaster. His smile was clearly strained as he could no change it.

_“Why is that human trying to kill Sans?”_ Gaster signed off quickly with a stern look in those empty sockets. It was the first time Chara ever saw Gaster actually use that back bone of his.

“He attacked first! Why do you care? You certainly didn’t stand up for the Froggits,” Chara scoffed while the human was walking through the forest again.

_“He is not “the weakest enemy” as you said. He will kill your human. Influence the human to stand down. Now.”_ Gaster made an unhappy noise from his smile, something that sounded somewhat like a growl if the scientist could still use his voice correctly.

“Never. This human is a potential vessel for me. If this monster is so important to you, YOU influence him to back down. But you can’t. Not with your little asterisk, at least. Now leave me alone, the human is at the point they were before,” Chara growled back, turning away from Gaster to look through their only window in the darkness.

*”Wow, what’s that expression for, bucko? You look pretty frustrated,” Sans spoke with ease as he drew the human into battle again. This time the human was prepared, moving their soul swiftly out of the way of the bone attack. The human tried this time to ACT, choosing to speak to the skeleton directly. Chara was honestly surprised since the last human wasn’t much for words.

*(You tell Sans you are looking for your sibling and demand to know if he’s seen them)

*”Sorry kiddo, don’t know any humans except you. None has been here since last year and I didn’t meet them,” he seems to shrug before attacking the human with the same light blue attack he made last time. Chara was glad that the human was able to dodge properly since they weren’t the type to stay still.

*You feel worried by what Sans said.

It was all Chara could describe it as now. Chara knew what Sans meant but they knew that the teen would need a moment to process this in. And it seemed they did as they immediately attack Sans with a throw of their first. Sans dodged the attack with ease again before sending the bone attack that killed the human the first time. The human was hit but was able to stay standing as they were getting better at remembering his attacks.

The human chooses to ACT again, talking to Sans again in an attempt to get some answers. Chara could feel that DETERMINATION blossom from the human and they had the BRAVERY to keep looking for them.

*(You ask Sans what happened to the human from a year ago.)

*”Well, they died. We need seven souls to get to the surface and someone killed them. They were soul number one. Sorry,” the smile was strained and seemed forced now as Sans looked away. He sent the bone attack at the human, making the human move quickly but was hit along the way twice.

*(You were determined to get some answers).

The human launched another attack, though, and was getting reckless as Sans kept dodging. Even Chara could see the human seething with their manly bandanna and tough gloves. This wasn’t good. If the human became too reckless, they’d die too often and lose the DETERMINATION to keep going. But this human was weak, too.

*”Well, bucko, hate to say it but I gotta be somewhere soon. So let’s finish this up, ok?” Sans shrugged and summoned what looked like two large skulls that blasted a beam of energy at the human’s soul. The human was scared and tried to move away from one blast but seemed to crash right into the second blast of energy. With that, the human died again.

_“What did I tell you?”_ Gaster signed as he somewhat existed beside Chara, giving her a mocking smile now. Was he proud of the skeleton? Chara felt determined to prove him wrong and wipe that smile off his face.

“Why are you rooting for that skeleton? All skeletons aren’t related, are they?” Chara hissed at him, watching the human pace angrily for a moment before returning to the script and walking through the forest.

_“Not all skeletons… but this one does hold a special spot to me. Remember how I mentioned a monster soul that could have been my vessel? Well, lets just say that vessel isn’t the “easiest enemy”,”_ Gaster pridefully signed off, looking through his own window as Sans finally approached the human. It all made sense to Chara now. Gaster was truly a fool to Chara.

*”Boy, third time’s the charm, right?” Sans shrugged, pulling them into battle again. He followed the script with the same attacks.  
  
The human wasn’t choosing to ACT anymore and just wanted to FIGHT. Chara could tell they were angry about the news of their sibling’s death. And due to their anger blurring their BRAVERY, the human died three more times. The human was in tears on the seventh round against Sans. It was just frustrating and painful to the human but Chara knew they had the DETERMINATION still to find who killed their sibling.

*”I don’t get why you’re so determined to kill me. I didn’t do it. Can’t you just let me have this one since I got a sibling of my own I gotta catch up to?” Sans tried to reason with them before sending off his attacks. The human wasn’t listening, just trying to throw each punch they could to Sans.

Once again Sans dodged their attacks and sent the blasters at the human. Their soul ran out of HP and Chara watched their window fade. Chara knew this would happen, the human had lost DETERMINATION. Chara could see the blood seep into the snow as the bright orange was collected into a glass case. It seemed only Chara could hear the soul cry for their sibling as the darkness surrounded them.

“That’s not fair…” Chara spoke into the darkness as their window closed, “I was so close… but that human just had to give up. Cause they couldn’t beat some monster with 1HP. They could’ve gone far if they didn’t let their emotions get to them. They didn’t have enough LOVE.”

_“Perhaps it’s for the better, child. Sans is pretty strong. Those weren’t all of his attacks, either. That human only got four attacks in each time,”_ Gaster was proud despite trying to sound comforting to Chara.

“You don’t scare me and neither does Sans. He’s just a comedian who’s lucky he can dodge,” Chara spoke simply, looking up at Gaster sternly.

_“The next time you send a human to try to kill him, I’ll personally see to it that he doesn’t go easy, then,”_ Gaster seemed to give them a warning glare.

“Is that a threat? The next human who comes down here will kill him. I’ll see to that, myself,” Chara gave him a sick smile, feeling BRAVERY course through their nonexistent body as they stood up to Gaster.

_“Well then, child, let us play this GAME together and see who wins in the end,”_ Gaster smiled back, extending his bony hand to Chara.

“Yes, let’s play this game. First one to break the barrier and sets us all free wins,” Chara shook his hand, making sure to grip his hand as firmly and tightly as they once gripped their knives. They were brave enough to face him in this challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> boy howdy two chapters in one day! I hoped you enjoyed!


	3. Integrity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twirling and hopping, the child moves with INTEGRITY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter feels pretty long and I have a feeling they only get longer from here c':

_“Chara, I want you to focus on what matters most to you. What do you want to do the absolute most?” their parent spoke with their scratchy voice as they had their eyes closed. They felt a warmth in their chest as they thought hard. They didn’t have many goals. They were just a child, why would they have a goal yet?_

_They felt a tap on their wrist and they opened their eyes, staring back at those auburn eyes that were filled with determination. Their hands moved swiftly in sign language, making Chara take the hint that their voice was done talking._

_“Don’t worry, my child, one day you will have more DETERMINATION than even I do. And I’m the wizard of DETERMINATION!” the hands moved and Chara translated internally._

_“But… how can I possibly just bend time? I’m not a wizard…” Chara’s small voice spoke, looking away worriedly._

_“You do not need any magic. You just need to believe in yourself. You know as well as I do that magic stems from the emotions. That’s why the monsters from those stories I tell you are so magical! They believed in themselves!” their parent’s hands moved as a smile was stretched across their face, “Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, Justice, or Determination will get anyone anywhere.”_

_“But I can only create a SAVE point if I’m the one with the most of one of those traits! How is this going to work with you and the other wizards around?” Chara crossed their arms stubbornly, giving their parent a childish pout._

_“Chara, I am trying to get you to have goals. And who knows, maybe one day I will loose my own DETERMINATION and you will have to step up to make sure that the timelines are safe,” they gave Chara smile, finishing off by summoning a SAVE point with ease through their magic, “As long as there are all seven powers together, then time can be safe. If there is ever a misbalance, then just about anyone can push us back to the very first SAVE if they have enough strength and the war against the monsters will be even more cruel than it already was.”_

_“Why didn’t you go back to the SAVE point to make sure the monsters win?” Chara decided to ask finally. They saw that smile falter before they let out a sigh of their own._

_“You’re mature enough…” their parent decided to finally speak, “Because the other wizards refused to let me go. They wanted the monsters away. They are why humans are so disgusting. You must remember till the day you die that those monsters didn’t deserve that fate. I am thankful that you are a good child and you are willing to learn the ways of the SAVE point. I know you can not SAVE just yet, but because you are exposed to it, just as anyone else exposed to it, you will remember all timelines. I want you to have the best memory in the whole world. One day you could be the future for humans and monsters. You must stay determined!”_

Chara cringed at the memory of their real parent. They hated their real parent. Their parent was a coward. They were DETERMINATION, not BRAVERY. Chara didn’t like thinking of them, they were a coward enough to not think of what would happen if their child walked in on them on the floor and covered in red.

 

Their parent didn’t think of what would happen if their child reloaded their parent on the verge of death more than once trying to stop the parent. But through bringing the parent back to life, the wizard forced their death faster so many times. Why did they have to be DETERMINED to die? Chara thought back on the golden flowers that they had once chewed on and figured it was that same kind of DETERMINATION. The DETERMINATION to sacrifice yourself for a bigger cause.

 

They were only thinking of their parent now, though, because they were searching for an answer in the darkness. Sans knew of reloading. The only way to know of reloading is through being exposed to a SAVE point once in the past or actually being able to control the power to SAVE. Chara could remember being back on the surface, listening as the wizard clan had died off one by one. It meant that none of them had control of the timelines anymore. None of them were determined to keep it together anymore.

 

They could remember trying to obtain that power to SAVE but realized someone else in time had more DETERMINATION than they did. But the more their small child body tried to search for an answer, the more time reloaded itself. Yet, none of the humans believed in magic or the stories anymore. The war had ended back when their parent was still a young adult. If no one believed in magic, then no one was using the SAVE, right? Yet time was reloading itself and it was too hard for a child to keep straight.

 

So who could be using magic still? And that was when Chara felt their DETERMINATION peak as they stared at that mountain so long ago. Someone else who believed in magic and was able to have more DETERMINATION than Chara did. It didn’t make sense, though, as their parent explained that monsters couldn’t handle DETERMINATION. It didn’t matter to the human child, though, as they were determined to find answers. They only heard stories from their parent on what happened to the monsters. Thier parent was the only one who spoke so fondly of King Asgore and his kingdom.

 

But here in the darkness, Chara was able to see the whole puzzle and put it together. Gaster. Gaster was that last piece. He was studying time and space. He must’ve found a way to give a monster DETERMINATION and survive it long enough to fuck with a SAVE point. It could also possibly be that Gaster was the one who had DETERMINATION, himself, and exposed Sans to it. Clearly Gaster spoke of Sans very fondly and held the skeleton close to his dead heart. It’d only make sense that Gaster would expose Sans like their real parent exposed them. Once someone is exposed, they’ll remember forever. That’s just how that magic works. This had to be the only explanation for why Sans could remember how many times the orange soul died.

 

Amongst their fuming, they saw a blue light shine through the darkness and they saw their window open again. Gaster had returned to sit with them, opening his own window to see out into the world again as a child fell into the underground. Chara frowned, though, as they saw this child had not enough DETERMINATION as their soul shined brightly with a true blue color. They had INTEGRITY. Sure, the child had a mild amount of DETERMINATION, but it wasn’t enough for Chara to steal for a vessel. It would only be enough to just SAVE once or twice.

 

Once the child had regained themself enough to stand, Chara was curious on what they wore. A tutu and ballet shoes that were a bright pink to contrast against their dark skin, dark hair that was pulled up into two pom-poms, their dark brown eyes, and their dark blue shirt. The child was clearly on the verge of tears from pain and fear. They began to move down the cave that opened to the underground and stared from the doorway at Flowey. Were they too scared of the flower.

 

Chara wanted to grab Flowey’s attention but clearly the flower didn’t notice the child just yet. Their face had formed into Asriel’s as he stared at the flower bed. Chara knew that was where they were buried now. They could just feel the tug back to their own body. Luckily for Flowey, Toriel had stepped into the hall and the flower returned to his new face and went back into the ground. She didn’t even notice the flower’s movement as she was adjusting a watering can in her hand. She looked exhausted both emotionally and physically.

 

Finally, she noticed the child who stood in fear in the shadows. Toriel moved to approach the human child slowly, holding her hands up quietly with a slow smile that gently graced her face. The child looked at her with a scared expression and felt nervous as Toriel offered her paw to the child.

 

*”Greetings! Fear not, my child, for I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I can see you are in need of some help… You have a wound on your leg and I know you would not want your pretty costume to be ruined,” she spoke gently.

 

The child swallowed hard but took her paw, letting Toriel lead them directly to her home. There was no Toriel leaving them alone like the last two children. Was she learning or was she just concerned about the wound on the child? Chara couldn’t tell and still didn’t like looking at Toriel. This monster replaced Asriel.

 

Once they were at her home in the ruins, Chara couldn’t spot a SAVE point like the child of BRAVERY seemed to have found. But, Toriel led the child to the same room she led the child of BRAVERY to and walked the child in. She picked up the small ballerina and placed them on the bed, attending to the wound as gently as she could with her healing magic. The child smiled at Toriel’s kindness.

 

*”There, all better, yes? How about you get some rest, ok? I shall make you a treat to wake up to!” Toriel smiled and gently rubbed the child’s head before leaving them alone in the room. This was when the child began to explore a bit and Chara could speak to the child again.

 

*Just an old empty photo frame

 

The child seemed curious at least. But Chara didn’t find a lot of room to give some humor. It was mocking to them to be in this small home. This room was set up for a child to live in. This was the third child Toriel set the room up for. Three children Toriel tried to replace Asriel and Chara with. What a terrible mother, Chara thought to themself.

 

*Look at all the toys! There’s only one that really interests you…

 

What an ungrateful child. All these toys from a monster mother who loves them already after knowing them for ten minutes. But the child pulled out a doll. The doll had no real features to show it was either monster or human. The child seemed to hold the doll up carefully and gracefully attempted to dance with the doll, twirling and hopping, testing if their leg was truly better or not.

 

Soon, though, the child was tired and moved to crawl in bed with the doll. They pulled their tutu off for a moment so it’d be easier to lay in the bed in just their shorts and shirt. Chara watched with annoyance as the child slept. When the child awoke, there was a slice of pie on the carpet by the bed.

 

The child picked it up after getting their tutu back on properly, they needed some protective armor, and was happy to smell the sweet scent of butterscotch in it and Chara could just cringe. It was the first real sense they had since they died. The sense of scent. It made Chara shiver in the darkness. It reminded them of being on the verge of death, losing their eyesight but being able to smell Asriel by their bed. He smelled like golden flowers.

 

The child moved from the room with the pie, deciding that they should go find Toriel. The child inspected the bedroom that was Toriel’s, making Chara laugh at how she hasn’t changed since the day Chara died. They remembered being in Toriel’s room before and idly going through her journal to see if Toriel ever wrote of Chara and any suspicious activity. Thankfully Toriel never noticed.

 

*There’s an entry written in Toriel’s journal. Read it?

 

*Yes

 

*”What type of art do skeletons like? Skulltures!”

 

Ok, Chara had to admit that one was worth tucking away for later. They did have to admit that despite everything, Toriel was pretty funny. Though, Chara still wasn’t in the direct mood to hear anything about skeletons. They seemed to cause more trouble than they were worth.

 

The child noted that Toriel wasn’t there and moved out, glancing at a mirror at the end of the hall. The child looked into the mirror and gave themselves a small smile, tidying up their hair.

 

*It’s you!

 

The child walked down the hall and past the stairs, moving to the living room where Toriel was seated reading. The child caught Toriel’s attention and she gave the child a warm smile. She put her book on her lap and gestured for the child to come closer. They looked up at her with a thankful smile and adjusted their tutu idly.

 

*”Greetings, my child! I hope you are well rested now! I’m so glad to hear you are feeling better now! I was just reading up on this snail book!” Toriel greeted the child with a hum of her own. The child gave a small nod before choosing to ask how to return home.

 

*”What? But this IS your home now. How would you like a fact about snails?” she insisted, her smile straining a bit. The child frowned and shook their head, insisting to know how to go home. The smile on Toriel’s face fell completely and she looked away.

 

*”My child, if you wish to leave, it’s down the stairs at the door. But I warn you, it’s a dangerous world out there… Please, my child, reconsider…” she spoke slowly, not looking the child in the eye.

 

The child frowned and made another small thank you with a curtsy of their tutu before moving away from Toriel. Chara watched the child move to the stairs and carefully wander down, walking down the hallway quietly. They made a small whimper of worry as they stared up at the door. They pushed it open slowly, walking out and bracing themselves for the cold winds that rushed through the door briefly.

 

*”Wow, hello there,” was the voice that immediately greeted them once they adjusted to the winds. The child looked up to the skeleton that smiled down at them, making Chara tense up in anticipation. This child had no LV for Chara to try to influence and didn’t seem like the fighter type. They didn’t even SAVE yet.

 

The child blubbered a frightened noise and pressed themself to the door in fear. The child knew that skeletons shouldn’t be out of the body and talking.

 

*You swallowed hard and looked up at the skeleton for a moment before giving a small wave with a nervous smile.

 

*”I’m guessing you’re not who I’m here for. But that’s ok… uh, boy this is awkward. I’m supposed to be keeping watch in case a human comes through here but… this isn’t a good spot though… I really hate doing business like this,” he shrugged, “I’m Sans, Sans the skeleton. Come on, you probably are cold, right?”

 

He gestured for the child to come follow him, leading them down the path that Chara remembered watching the child of bravery walk down to fight Sans. Was he going to fight this child? They weren’t sure. He seemed to be a bit worried and seemed to look guilty but that smile was still painted on permanently. The child seemed to trust him and followed with ease, moving with him into the forest.

 

He stopped at what looked like a guard post before he turned to face the child again. Before the child had time to question him, he pulled them into battle and Chara was unsurprised. Seems he’ll be a constant obstacle.

 

*”Sorry kiddo, but I have someone I need to protect. I don’t know a lot about humans except that the last one was pretty intent on finishing business. I’ll go easy on you, buddy, since you are only at LV 1. Fair?” he gave the child a wink, seeming to give the child a chance to choose what to do rather than just bombarding them with the bone attack. The child chose to ACT, checking him over briefly, almost curiously.

 

*ATCK 1, DEF 1, the guard

 

It was Sans’ turn now, sending to the child a series of bones along the ground. It was then that Chara saw the child’s soul and felt themself cringe in worry. This child’s soul was fixated to the ground. The child gave a worried noise as they made their soul jump over the bones carefully in fear. The bones were fast and it was hard to keep up. One small bone caught the child off guard and took of 4 HP points, leaving them with only 16 HP now. The child made a pained noise and looked up at Sans with fear.

 

*Sans is preparing another bone attack

 

The child made a worried noise and stepped back in worry, seeming to choose to spare Sans for now.

 

*”Not gonna fight huh? Are you scared? Well, I’d recommend you keep still then,” he gave them a wink as the next wave of attacks came, the light blue bones going past their soul quickly. The child was smart and held still, giving Sans a confused look. He merely gave them a wink.

 

*Sans is sparing you

 

The child spared him, giving him a confused expression. He looked away from them briefly before smiling at them and holding his hand out to them to shake. The child took his hand with a small curtsy of their tutu.

 

*”Sorry, kiddo, for giving you a bit of trouble. Here, eat up,” he offered them a hot dog…? The child inspected it, making Chara point out that it was merely a water sausage between two buns.

 

*”Hey, there’s other guards in this forest, so be careful. You probably are gonna try to go home, right? Well, in Snowdin there’s a boat you can take right to the Hotlands. From there, you can reach the core and go home. Just make me a promise, don’t stay in Snowdin any longer than you need to. I got someone there who I’d rather stay away from humans for now,” Sans explained with a wink while the child ate the hot dog…?

 

The child gave a small nod, smiling in thanks to Sans. They looked around briefly, unsure what to do or where to go. The child chose to stay on the path and keep going, hoping to go somewhere that’d lead the way better. Out of the corner of their eye, the child spotted the SAVE point and Chara felt relieved finally. That meant the child had at least enough DETERMINATION to create a SAVE file. It was a shame, though, that it was a SAVE spot for someone with INTEGRITY.

 

*Keeping that promise fills you with INTEGRITY

 

The child went on down the path, occasionally making a small twirl or jump to fill the time, hoping to keep their body warm this way. The child eventually saw another guard post, slowly approaching with curiosity and tapping the small bell on the counter. A dog poked his head up and looked around. The child held their nose to keep themselves from sneezing.

 

*”Who’s there? They better not move an inch!” the dog spoke gruffly as he pulled the child into battle.

 

*Doggo is searching for who is there!

 

The child chose to spare, stepping back slowly, trying not to catch the dog’s attention.

 

*”Don’t move an inch!” Doggo barked as his light blue knife moved quickly past the child’s still soul.

 

The child wasn’t sure what to do as they were too scared to fight the tall dog but was also too allergic to approach the dog. They couldn’t spare the dog for the dog could not see them, it seemed. Swallowing hard, the child gently pet the dog’s leg, trying to grab his attention so the dog could let their soul go.

 

*You tried to pet Doggo, but sneezed as you tried to and scared him.

 

*”Huh?! Who’s there!” Doggo yelped and looked around desperately as another light blue knife moved past the child’s soul. The child was able to spare Doggo now and did so hastily.

 

*You won! 0XP and 3 gold obtained!

 

The child moved quickly away from the dog, giving a small sneezing fit as they did. They were cold and sick now, glad they didn’t really pet the dog. Otherwise, their small hands would’ve been too itchy to continue without medicine. The child continued down the path and was surprised to see Sans there idly talking up another pair of dog guards.

 

*”Come on Sans! Throw us a bone!”

 

*”(Yeah! Please?)”

 

The child slowly tried to move past them quietly, standing on their tippy toes to be quieter till they sneezed, catching their attention quickly. Sans gave them a worried smile as the other two dogs quickly approached, sniffing around the child quickly. The child could feel their soul be pulled to battle till Sans stepped up quickly.

 

*”Hold up, love pups, let me take care of this one. I think they are sick and we don’t need them making you both sick. Ok?” he spoke with ease, stepping forward and giving the child a wink.

 

*”Alright! We’re going to go see if the smell has any more smells nearby!” the male dog spoke quickly.

 

*”(Yeah! This way they can identify theirsmelf!)”

 

And with that, the two dogs were off on their sniffing hunt. Sans watched them go before looking to the child, offering a steady smile again.

 

*”I can tell you’re allergic to dogs. Come on, buddy, let’s get you out of here and to the Waterfalls, at least. The rest of this path leads to more guard dogs. I know a shortcut, follow me,” he winked and held his hand out. The child took it and followed Sans down the path.

 

Chara watched through the window as Sans and the child was in snow one moment and then the Waterfalls the next moment. Chara stared hard in shock at what they saw before looking up from their window to Gaster who had a prideful smile stretched on his face.

 

“Cheater…” Chara mumbled low into the darkness.

 

*”Alright, buddy, you’re not my problem now, ok? Stay out of trouble and just keep heading straight on this path. You’ll eventually find the Riverperson who can take you to Hotlands, ok? I gotta go. Ok?” he gently ruffled their hair before making his way off, seeming to take another short cut away.

 

The child watched him go and frowned, wishing he would’ve stayed. They glanced around nervously to get used to the new surroundings. The child swallowed and looked to a bright blue flower on one side of the cave and a SAVE point at another side of the cave. Gently, the child lightly stepped over to the SAVE point.

 

*The possibility of not having an allergic reaction fills you with determination

 

The child then moved to the flower, giving it a curious inspection before looking to a sort of fish monster next to it.

 

*”That’s the echo flower! It repeats the last thing it’s heard!”

 

The child then looked to the flower and almost on cue;

 

*”That’s the echo flower! It repeats the last thing it’s heard!”

 

The child gave a small laugh and smiled when the flower mimicked their flower. From there, the child kept moving down the cave to see that the next room was absolutely beautiful. Their artistic INTEGRITY glimmered in their soul as they saw the bright blue water glow against the dark ground. It was inspiring to them as the blues contrasted the dark tones of the cave. Blue was their favorite color, after all.

 

The child twirled and hopped over to the echo flowers, humming to them all to create a chorus of their own. It was so much fun to them! They sang and hummed familiar tunes, remembering songs their mother used to hum to them late at night.

 

As they went about their chorus of flowers, they slowly began to miss home very much. They missed going to ballet practice so they could one day be like their mother. They missed their mother’s warm embrace. They only climbed that mountain to mourn their mother. They never wanted this. They wanted to go home. Badly. They wanted to go home to see their father. They knew he was alone right now. He had lost their mother and now they were lost, too. Their humming slowly faded into a silence as they lost the will to keep humming.

 

This wasn’t good for Chara. Chara could see their determination draining and they had to make an influence, fast. At the next SAVE point, Chara decided to take on some artistic liberty.

 

*The idea of telling your father about the echo flowers fill you with determination!

 

It was all they could think of to comfort the child, hoping to give them the will to keep going. And thankfully, it worked. The child picked their head up and kept going, twirling and hopping to their original style. Soon they were at the waterfalls of the Waterfalls, looking up and trying to distinguish a way to go across without getting too wet.

 

*Moldsmal approaches!

 

The child looked down in surprise as the gelatin monster approached them suddenly. They made a yelp and backed away as their soul was pulled into battle. They chose to check the monster, hoping to see what to do.

 

*ATCK 5, DEF 3. Smaller than Moldaverage

 

The monster sent small bullets around their soul, making the blue soul move back and forth slowly. Something wasn’t right. The child chose to try to imitate it now, twirling gently. Suddenly, the Moldsmall transformed into a tall creature that made a frightening screech at the child, making them screech back in fear. The attack bullets were more feirce now and aimed right for the blue soul that danced along the floor.

 

In fear, the child kicked their foot out and attacked Moldbygg, instantly killing the monster. They stared in fear as the monster turned to dust and they gained EXP. Dust collected on their ballet shoe and they made a worried noise. They retreated away from the waterfall and moved to a different cavern.

 

As they tried to go, they felt scared and panicked each time a monster approached them. They kicked their way past some Moldsmall till they were all the way up to LV 2. They felt scared and began to cry.

 

Eventually they made their way back to the room Sans led them to, spotting him at the guard post that was there. They gave them a steady smile before looking down at the dust they were covered in, his smile straining. Chara could tell he didn’t want to approach the situation, seeming to give up as he stayed where he sat.

 

The child slowly looked down at themself to see what he saw, swallowing hard as they realized their shoes were covered in dust. They ran away now till they were alone on a patch of land amongst the water and bridges. They hid in some tall grass and hastily pulled their ballet shoes off, not wishing to associate with them any longer. Their daddy could buy them new shoes. They could probably get new shoes here with all the gold they collected.

 

Slowly they moved away from the grass and their dusty shoes, moving through the bridges till they found the waterfall again. They studied it for a moment as the remembered it being an obstacle in their way. It was then they spotted that behind the waterfall was a cave. They felt too relieved and didn’t care that they were getting wet now. They just wanted to hide.

 

They pushed themself to the back of the cave and knelt down to hug their knees tightly. They missed home but felt like a bad child. They hurt those monsters. They didn’t feel the will to keep going. What would their father say? What would their mother say?

 

They remembered in their hasty run across the cavern, they saw two fish sisters singing together the tune they had just sang into the echo flowers. They wished they went back to sing with them. They looked so happy together. They wanted to be happy too. They didn’t want to be scared. They had their INTEGRITY to uphold.

 

They looked up when the water door of the cave parted, revealing a forced smile and a bright blue eye that shone in the dark socket of Sans.

 

*”You’ve been busy, huh?” was all he said, looking away. The child opened their mouth to speak, giving a relieved smile as they saw him and wanted to call out to him. But their breath was cut short as they looked down to see bones that shot up into their chest. The child stared at their blood in fear, crying in confusion.

 

*”S-...” the child reached for him, trying to beg for forgiveness. But they knew. They knew they were a bad child. They didn’t deserve to keep going.

 

“Damn it…” Chara cursed as they stared at the blood that seeped down the bones. The child didn’t have the will to reload like the child of BRAVERY did.

 

_“Watch your language, child,”_ Gaster seemed to give a mocking smile, _“Three down. Four to go.”_

  
“Whatever. Next child will be the one, I promise!” Chara spoke with INTEGRITY. 


End file.
